[JPL] New music and audience surveys

[Bill Anschell]

Thanks for the info, Nick.  I guess I took my understanding of how  
nonprofits get their 501(c)3 status and transferred it to public  
radio; I stand corrected.

But I still don't think you can write off the idea of educating your  
audience as being "erroneous and paternalistic."  Like you, I'm very  
turned off by the idea of condescending, in art or in life.  But  
that's really not what I'm talking about.  I would expect a  
programmer's taste to evolve over the years as he/she listens to more  
jazz.  And I would hope that a listener with relatively little  
exposure to jazz (especially a "smart," "thoughful," or  
"sophisticated" one) would want to benefit from those insights.  It  
strikes me that survey-guided programming takes that out of the  
equation, or at the very least reduces it considerably.

This gets back into an issue that has been thoroughly discussed on  
this list, with programmers weighing in on both sides.  As with most  
things philosophical, there really is no "right" answer.  I guess you  
can see where I stand, but it really wasn't my intention to set this  
particular ball rolling again.

--Bill

On Jul 28, 2007, at 2:09 PM, Nick Francis wrote:
>
>
> Bill-
>
>
>
> The only thing mandated by the FCC is that a station (commercial or  
> non-commercial) "serve" the general community of license. There are  
> no specific mandates for content. Non-commercial stations are  
> usually licensed to non-profit educational, religious, or community  
> organizations; however, each one determines it's own mission  
> statement, and is free, within the FCC laws to produce whatever  
> content they wish.
>
>
>
> We take "serving our community" very seriously. Our listeners are  
> the backbone and support system for our radio station. Now one of  
> the dilemmas of the medium of radio is that, in real time, they can  
> hear you, but you can't hear them (and there are a lot of them). If  
> you are to truly serve your community, wouldn't it be a good idea  
> to actually ask them what they think and what they like???  That's  
> the reason we do audience studies.
>
>
>
> I think it's erroneous and paternalistic, particularly when it  
> comes to culture and music, to assume that we know "what's right"  
> and "educate" them as if they were children that need to be  
> "uplifted". I dont know if you've noticed, but public radio  
> listeners are smart, thoughtful, sophisticated, and opinionated. I  
> trust them and respect them.
>
>
>
> We're not trying to max out listenership like commercial stations  
> do. We just want to be able to have a framework, whereby we have  
> some kind of feel for what our audience wants and likes.
>
>
>
> Thanks. Nick
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bill Anschell <billanschell at mindspring.com>
> Sent: Sat, July 28, 2007 12:48 pm
> To: jazzproglist at jazzweek.com
> Subject: [JPL] New music and audience surveys
>
> I'd like to add one other point on the subject of programming new
> music versus old, and the related question of using audience surveys
> to shape a station's direction.
>
> Isn't a public radio station - in order to get the various "perks" of
> nonprofit status (e.g., not paying taxes, having listener
> contributions and other donations qualify as tax-deductible, etc.) -
> required to define itself in large part as serving an educational
> function? That is my understanding; correct me if I'm wrong.
>
> Polling potential audiences to see what they'd like played is the
> exact opposite of educating them; instead it's following their tastes
> to pursue the largest possible numbers. Kind of like a commercial
> station, but with the nonprofit advantages. No surprise that people
> would like to hear music that's already familiar to them, but how is
> this consistent with a public radio station's charter?
>
> I'm just asking...
>
> --Bill Anschell
> +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>
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>
>
> Nick Francis - KPLU Music Director
> +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>
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